The Brightest Rose
by periodic-prose
Summary: Athrun buys a bouquet of roses for Cagalli... How impact much could the COLOR possibly have?


**This is short... Incredibly short for my standards. The original piece was the exact same concept, but much longer because it was written as an actual story. In my honest opinion, it's not as good, but if enough people show interest I can post that up as well. **

**Here we go...**

* * *

She had liked them at first. 

They were bright yellow, with sprinklings of baby's breath scattered into the bouquet and three lush fern leaves lining the sides.

It was original. Everyone else always gave her red flowers.

It was colorful. After all, 50 bouquets of red flowers could make any room look to mono-colored.

But most of all, it was from _him_, on Valentine's day.

Then…

* * *

_Cagalli finished packing up her stuff, then carefully cradling a bouquet of yellow roses, she began to wriggle her way out of the cramped office that was bursting with Valentine's gifts from various suitors that she didn't really know, as she pulled open the office door and headed out._

_"See you tomorrow. Thanks for your help." She smiled to her secretary. Ellen looked up for a moment and smiled._

_"You're only taking one bouquet?"_

_Cagalli smiled. "I only wanted one in the first place."_

_"It is very lovely. Don't listen to those color charts! They're too generic." Ellen grinned, about to turn back to her work._

_"Color charts?" Cagalli raised a curious eyebrow. "What do you mean?"_

_"Mm, color charts. Here." She handed one to Cagalli. "The color of the rose is supposed to correspond to the feelings of the giver. I think it's silly, but some people actually believe in it."_

_Cagalli smiled. "I see… It does sound a bit silly." She agreed. Yet a part of her couldn't help but let her eyes wander down_

_Randomly of course…_

_To the color yellow,_

_By chance, naturally!_

_And look up the meaning:_

_Yellow: "Friendship."_

* * *

She still liked them. They were still original, and beautiful. Still the only non-red bouquet she had received. 

But Red meant "Love" and Yellow mean "Friendship".

Not that she believed in that stuff. Certainly not.

… And there was nothing wrong with just being a friend anyways. It meant support, trust, and concern… and love in its own kind of way.

They were still a bright yellow, but seemed slightly duller in color now.

And so she still liked them… but not as much.

* * *

He came home that day, and greeted her with open arms. Her body felt stiff pressed to his. Pulling away in concern, he studied her face. 

"Something wrong?" He examined her face with an experienced eye.

"Not at all." She feigned glee, hoping it would hold up to his scrutiny.

"Cagalli…" He began, catching the flicker of doubt in her eyes.

"It's nothing." She insisted, moving towards the couch and sitting down. "Thank you for the flowers."

"Oh, I hoped you would like them." He smiled. "They seemed to suit you."

Her face fell slightly. They… suited her? Did that mean they suited their relationship? Friendship?...

"Okay, what's really wrong?" He pressed, clearly seeing her discomfort.

"Nothing! Nothing at all! I'm just really happy to have received them… I'm grateful." She explained. For his friendship. For how he was always there for her.

"I see…" Athrun nodded, deciding to momentarily drop the investigation. "I hoped you would like them. I didn't want to get red ones."

Cagalli thought back to the color chart. Red meant love…. He didn't want to give her something that meant love?

"Really?... Why's that?"

Athrun blinked. "For a lot of reasons." He shrugged. "Red is too common. Everyone gets red flowers. But you're not common at all, so I wanted to get you something different."

Cagalli felt her face soften as he continued his speech in a calm and honest voice.

"Also, the yellow reminded me of you I guess. Not just your physical features, like hair, but your personality. It's always bright, and it can lighten up the darkest moods. At the same time, it's simple and calming. It has a strength, which anyone can turn to. And even though it possesses such beauty, I don't think… No I definitely think that it doesn't get the appreciation it deserves. Yellow just… suits you."

He looked up at her and smiled. "That's why I got them for you. And I'm glad that you like them."

And at some point during his explanation, their hands had found each others and their fingers intertwined, as their palms clasped together like two halves of a locket. The sun-haired girl swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled. Glowing with elation, she beamed then tackled him onto the sofa with a tight hug.

She had liked them at first…

Then she didn't like them so much…

But in the end, she loved them...

_Almost_ as much as she loved the person who had given them to her.

* * *

**If anyone's curious, yes there actually are color charts that exist and each color does correspond to something. I got the idea for this while staring at one today, at the florist. Yellow actually is friendship, and Red is love (In general... Each color actually has several meanings but for the sake of this fic I boiled it down)**

**Agh, nevertheless... Still cheesy as heck. But it's Valentine's day, so I'll let it slide. **

**Happy Valentine's Day everyone. Hope it's a pleasant one for you.**


End file.
